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The next wave of wine bars: Covell and Mignon opening soon

March 30, 2010 | 5:31
pm

A new crop of wine bars is set to open this spring and summer, including Covell in Los Feliz and Mignon downtown -- both of which are just weeks away, according to their owners. (Also, the Bodega Winebar mini-chain, with locations in Pasadena and Santa Monica, is expanding to Hollywood.)

The target opening for Mignon Wine & Cheese Bar is in just a couple weeks, says Greg Williams of Mass Architecture, which is designing the diminutive space (it's just 489 square feet). The wine bar is the brainchild of Santos Uy and Danny Kronfli, who also own Bacaro L.A. Wine Bar. "In terms of size, it's a little tiny hole-in-the-wall, a stitch in the fabric of the development of downtown L.A.," but it has a lot of character, Williams says. The location, next to Babycakes bakery on 6th Street, once was a tailor's shop. Diagrammatic references -- such as an illustration of how to tie a bow tie -- line the walls. The main feature, of course, is the bar -- which seats 18. "To get the 18 seats in there was pretty tight," Williams says.

Meanwhile, Covell -- the wine bar from Dustin Lancaster, former bartender at Cafe Stella, and Matthew Kaner, previously of Silverlake Wine -- is about five to six weeks from opening, according to Kaner. The 1,100-square-foot Hollywood Boulevard spot, located directly across the street from Wacko, will serve beer (on tap and in the bottle) and wine along with cheeses, charcuterie and some snacks from Heirloom LA chef Matthew Poley. The rotating wine selection will include "anything and everything, whatever we like," Kaner says. "I've been doing this too long to discriminate; there's great wine coming from everywhere."